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BZFlag is a free, open source, online multiplayer video game. Now the problem is: In the BZFlag website under the section download, http://bzflag.org/ you can download the windows .exe and the source for the GNU/Linux systems...

I have learned how to compile software from the source using the terminal, but it would be great if thousands of beginners and not so expert persons could check and download the latest BZFlag version from the Ubuntu Software Center. This also because in the USC there's a BZFlag package but the version 2.0.16 that isn't compatible with the newest version. So, nobody can use old versions like 2.0.16 or 2.0.14 because the client & server aren't compatible with the new 2.4.x version.

I have seen the opportunity of the developers to publish their own software here http://developer.ubuntu.com/ but...

How can I contact the developers of Ubuntu to ask to upload new software on the USC?

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  • I feel some sympathy...I play Hedgewars and that game has the exact same problem with out-of-date USC versions being unable to play online. This issue goes beyond BZFlag. Nov 28, 2011 at 2:21

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If there is free open source software that you want made available in Ubuntu's official software sources (which is the primary way in which software can be made available to be installed in the Software Center), you can file a needs-packaging request, either upstream for Debian (which is often preferable, as then it gets into Debian and Ubuntu), or specifically for Ubuntu.

You can even package the software yourself, even if you are not its original author. While upstream authors can package their software for inclusion in Ubuntu and other operating systems, much of the software available in Ubuntu and other OSes is packaged by others, and if you file a needs-packaging request and the work is done, it will likely be done by a contributor to Debian and/or Ubuntu other than the program's original upstream author. Of course, you can still ask the upstream authors if they'll package their software for Debian/Ubuntu--it's possible they'll say yes.

As an alternative to officially packaging the software for Debian or Ubuntu, you (or the upstream developers, or anybody at all) can create a PPA for any free open source software. This is an unofficial, completely unsupported and untrusted (by the Ubuntu project) personal software source that users can enable to install software that is not provided in any official software source but which is maintained and packaged by somebody.

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